Goodwin or Rutledge?

Normative Ethics: the decision between what is right and what is wrong based on virtue, duty, or consequentialist theories. As I discussed in prior content, I find myself to make decisions based on virtue and what feels right as a result of my upbringing. Taking a look at the movie Source Code, this thought of mine was challenged. It is safe to say that I have never had to make a decision or hopefully will never have to make the decision to use a dead person’s mind for the good of an entire country, but as I watched this movie, I was forced to question what the right decision would be in this situation.

After finishing Source Code, I was very confident in my thought that he should not be kept alive even though it would be for the benefit of an entire country. Goodwin was right. Colter gave his life to serve our country and while he had the ability to go back to tragic situations and capture the harmful people in our country, it does not feel morally right to continue to keep him “alive” against his will. Goodwin’s thoughts reminded me much of virtue and duty ethics whereas Rutledge was coming from the mindset of consequentialism. Rutdlege wanted to focus on the more favorable situation to a larger group of people whereas Goodwin felt it was wrong to go against the word of Colter and keep using him.

Source Code supports the common issue in this world of conflicting values and ideals on what is right or wrong. It proves that everyone approaches situations and decisions with different ideas backing them up. The obvious choice of what to do for one person can make absolutely no sense to someone else and that simply comes from the fact that the truly do not see eye to eye in the normative ethics of the situation.

How do we solve this problem? This is where it is crucial to find a middle ground. Each of us needs to evaluate how we can each make decisions while stepping in the shoes of the person we disagree with. Coming from a place of understanding will be much more effective in decision making than coming from a place where we are hard in our minds and cannot bend. Virtue ethics is where I come from when I make my decisions, but even if someone else comes from this place, they most likely were not raised the same way I was and believe certain things are right that I believe are wrong. There will always be a fine line. How we choose to bend that line will determine how we cooperate with those around us and how our world functions.